OOIDA tour trailer stops in McCalla, Ala.

Starting Sunday, Marty Ellis plans to have the OOIDA tour trailer the McCalla, Ala., Petro.

Sunday through Wednesday, March 19-22, Ellis is scheduled to be at the McCalla Petro, also known as the Bucksville Petro. The truck stop is at Exit 100 from I-20/I-59.

The McCalla Petro has parking for 255 tractor-trailers. There’s an Iron Skillet restaurant there and a Popeyes too.

The McCalla Petro is southwest of Birmingham, Ala., and midway between Birmingham and Tuscaloosa, Ala., on I-20

Considering the household goods model

Ellis regularly discusses what he hears from drivers on the road with Mark Reddig, host of Land Line Now, on Friday broadcasts.

On the broadcast from March 10, Ellis related a conversation with a fellow driver about driver pay. Should all freight be run like household goods? That was what the driver proposed. Ellis said he didn’t know a lot about it, but he understands the rates are pretty much nailed down by regulations.

A lot of guys are looking at getting back into moving household goods, he said, “even though most of the bedbuggers that I have talked to know that it’s not as good as it once was.”

Listen to the conversation here.

Tonight’s broadcast begins at 7 p.m.

Some of the topics Ellis will discuss tonight are truck parking. What do truck drivers really need? And have you seen where Missouri is shutting down rest areas but adding truck parking spots.

It also is available as a podcast at LandLine.Media/Land-Line-Now/.

You also can subscribe to Land Line Now using the Bullhorn app. Bullhorn lets you listen to our program without using limited data on your cellphone plan by allowing you to listen through a phone call. Go to Land Line Now on the Bullhorn app, or the Bullhorn website’s Land Line Now page, and click on the follow button.

Stop by when you see The Spirit

If you see the OOIDA tour trailer, stop by and say hello. Ellis looks forward to visiting about the Association’s activities and current issues. There are copies of Land Line Magazine to pick up there. You can join or renew your membership with the OOIDA 50th anniversary promotion of two years for $50. That’s a $40 savings. You can also use the promotion as many times as you like.

After McCalla, Ellis plans to stop March 24-27 in West Memphis, Ark., before heading to the Mid-America Trucking Show.

Here is the schedule for The Spirit. LL